Edwards Lifesciences Corp. said Monday that it’s selling a gene-based drug program that aims to treat heart disease for $7.5 million in stock and royalties.
Irvine-based Edwards, a maker of heart valves, is selling the angiogenesis drug program to Sangamo BioSciences Inc. of Richmond.
Edwards started the program with Sangamo in early 2000, prior to Edwards’ spinoff from Baxter International Inc.
The deal’s expected to close at the end of the year.
Edwards and Sangamo have worked on drugs based on Sangamo’s zinc finger DNA binding proteins. The theory was if there weren’t enough blood vessels to make the heart work, a zinc finger could be used to prod the gene that controls blood-vessel growth.
The move frees up Edwards to spend money on research and development “priorities more central to our strategy,” Chief Executive Michael Mussallem said.
